Felix the Cat (Trans Lux)

[Stego]

I had the unfortunate pleasure of renting and watching the direct-to-video release of Felix the Cat Saves Christmas today. I wouldn't normally do this, but the Felix the Cat Creations company has driven me to posting a new topic in response to this...film. I appologize if this seems bias or rude...but i'm a strong supporter of quality in film/animation.

The reason why i thought this movie would have even a slight chance of being watchable was because the very same production company put out a brilliant (but short) series called "The Twisted Tales of Felix The Cat" back in '96. That series featured the Felix from the 20s and 30s and was delightfully weird, funny and well-drawn...this new movie featured the "new Felix" created by Joe Oriolo...complete with the uninteresting sub-characters, and was VERY long and boring. Not to mention there are several very obvious points where the animation skips, or even changes mid-motion.

I wouldn't mind the sub-characters if only this movie wasn't so poorly written/directed. The voice acting is robotic and lifeless (with the exception of Tom Bosley's rendition of Santa...and maybe a few of the "snow kids"). I'm not sure if it was the actors themselves or their direction, because the whole film seemed to have the same robotic feel. Dave Coulier as Felix...i'm sad to say was not a good match. Though a tad awkward at times, the performance of Felix from the 90s show was much better. I'm a big fan of "less is more" in regards to dialogue...and there is way too much of it here. The only saving grace was the fact that the animation wasn't terrible and that the lip-sync usually matched up.

I guess a common response to this movie would be "it's for kids"...but i'm not a big fan of dumbing things down for kids, no matter how young. It didn't work for the new Star Wars and it doesn't work here. Kids aren't idiots. I guess where i'm going with this is: what's next? It seems to me that some of the greatest cartoon stars are getting these over-hauls for a new generation of viewers, but the attempts are largely insulting to the originals.

Lastly, the DVD extras for this movie sounded good, but i did not have the chance to watch them since the local video store only had the VHS for rent. Maybe the interviews with the creators is worth checking out, but i'm not about to purchase this movie JUST for the features.

If these companies can't come up with something new, i wish they wouldn't take already successful characters and run their names into the mud. Felix is a great character, and he deserves better treatment. While i still respect Don Oriolo for his attempts, i can't say i'm behind him in this most recent effort. ...DISCUSS! (and again, sorry for the rant!)

[GeorgeC]

I don't think the direct-to-video movies will help Felix any more than the CGI Popeye special will help the Sailor.

It comes down to the current animation crews not understanding the characters and the era we're living in being so vastly different than the times in which the classical theatrical cartoons of these characters were created. We are living in very cynical times and the classic cartoon characters were, for the most part, anything but cynical. When you put the average person of today together with these characters, you're going to get crap.

For all the complaining about the economy and lack of opportunity in the world today, the fact is that our ancestors in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s had it worse than us but were far more positive about the prospects for the future. This was reflected in the animation back then, too.


Frankly, I wish the companies that own these characters would just give in and let fans have the classic cartoons the FANS want -- NOT what the companies think we'll take.

I would prefer the classic silent Felix shorts and the Fleischer Popeyes to any of the new production videos coming down the pike...

[Ben]

Yep!

I've stayed away from this release myself. Don't want to think about it.

Same with the Harry Potter films, which feature frankly rubbish SFX, and the argument is "It's for kids". Well, yes, it's AIMED at kids, but as far as I was aware, the Potter franchise is a bunch of $100m+ budgeted motion pictures that serve as Warners tentpoles.

Exactly why should they have bad visual effects?

Anyway, back to Felix. This one's a lot better:
http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/326

[Special_Ed]

The problem is those in power don't want to do quality stuff with the characters. I have a friend who's a Popeye nut and he told me that the best popeye comics since Seagar were these ones in the early 90's that were a satire, which is true to how Popeye started. One mocked the execs who control Popeye, but the one that got the artist fired was wheen Popeye thought Olive had an abortion. The fans loved these comics but King Features didn't want to do anything edgy. Popeye was an edgy character when he came onto the scene. The reason popularity died is because he bacame too PC.

I have friends who've tried to do stuff with all these characters but the powers that be reject their proposals. Once in a while they get to do something, like the guy who illustrated Jill Chill did a Koko the Klown Christmas Book that Richard Fleischer said was closer to anything that his dad did since the studio shut down. The result? The copyright holders ulled the plug on uture installments.

The studios think animation is strictly for kids and we'll never be able to change that. We just have to work around it and create our own stuff to do.

[Stego]

I don't think the direct-to-video movies will help Felix any more than the CGI Popeye special will help the Sailor.

It comes down to the current animation crews not understanding the characters and the era we're living in being so vastly different than the times in which the classical theatrical cartoons of these characters were created. We are living in very cynical times and the classic cartoon characters were, for the most part, anything but cynical. When you put the average person of today together with these characters, you're going to get crap.

For all the complaining about the economy and lack of opportunity in the world today, the fact is that our ancestors in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s had it worse than us but were far more positive about the prospects for the future. This was reflected in the animation back then, too.


Frankly, I wish the companies that own these characters would just give in and let fans have the classic cartoons the FANS want -- NOT what the companies think we'll take.

I would prefer the classic silent Felix shorts and the Fleischer Popeyes to any of the new production videos coming down the pike...

I whole-heartedly agree, George. I'd love a well-crafted sortof "Disney Treasures" take on classic Felix. I'm constantly baffled at how easy that sort of thing would be since,they wouldn't have to put in any effort into creating new (animated) material (besides menus, maybe). Kinda how they keep making money off of old Scooby Doo shorts. *sigh* But that's another story...

Apparantly they'd rather hash out more garbage that they know the hard-core fanbase will look for...which ends up ticking off said fanbase.

To successfully create new cartoons for an old character, i think there needs to be a dedication to the source material, that just plain isn't there (there are exceptions of course, i.e. 3 Musketeers).

[impregnable]

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[Daniel]

.....is coming to DVD!

There is a pre-order listing at Amazon.com for a Felix The Cat DVD distributed by Genius Products, set for release on October 2nd. While the listing at Amazon doesn't go into any detail, we've found all the info about this set in the latest print issue of trade magazine Video Business. They show the full title as Felix The Cat - Golden Anniversary Edition (1958-1959) , and describe it this way:

For the first time on DVD is the complete
1958-59 series, featuring all 31 episodes.

2-Disc set $39.93. Amazon agrees with that SRP price (give or take a couple of pennies), but is discounting the price to $27.99 if you pre-order it now. Running time is 232 minutes, according to the e-tailer. Cover art isn't available yet, but stay tuned!

Awesome!

I had a VHS of some of these I believe, so I'm happy they're finally getting the DVD treatment.

[GeorgeC]

<Sigh>

If only the original SILENT Felix shorts got the deluxe treatment.

Sad to think Felix was the biggest animated star prior to Disney. He ruled animation for the better part of a decade but sadly just didn't make the transition to sound well at all.

Ironically, as much as I like animation in general, I'm NOT a big fan of the silent era. Felix is one of the few characters outside of Koko the Clown that had personality in the silent era.

The character that appears in the 1950s animated series (I've got the previous DVD release of a select number of episodes from that show) is a world apart from The Original Black Cat.

Well, if the 1950s Felix show is what some people want, good on them. I'd just like to see more of the original version, though.

[GeorgeC]

P.S. -- Good avatar picture, btw!

Stitch was the last great Disney character created in the past 10 years... So, so un-Disneylike but yet he fits!

[Daniel]

Not sure I agree with your statement, but thanks!

And no, I wish the silents would get the DVD treatment, too. I've seen a lot of the shorts, and they're really cute. In the end, I'm just happy some Felix is being released.

But hopefully if sales are good, we'll get those silent toons' soon enough!

[Daniel]

Here's the bonus features:

Original 1920s film short, "Feline Follies"
Interview: Through the Ages with Academy Award-winning animator and author, John Canemaker
Archival promo reel
2-disc set with special foil packaging

Neat! And here's the cover art; which I think looks stunning.

[Randall]

This looks like a nice set. It's definitely on my "buy" list. I love seeing seeing how cartoons got their start on TV.

[Ben]

Hmmm...this just jumped up higher on my wish list. I'm still not so sure about the <I>content</I> of the TV show - hasn't it been issued before? - but the overall package looks sweet.

[Randall]

There was a single disc of it a few years ago, which I thought I'd pick up some time; but now I'll just get this set. The show was quite popular, I think, so I'm looking forward to seeing it for the first time (though with expectations in check).

[Daniel]

Wow, so your blind buying, Rand? How cool! Like I said, I remember loving these cartoons, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


Ps, thanks for the credit on the front page, Josh!